


All My Life

by cleopatras



Series: Sins of the Flesh [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Background Relationships, Character Study, Childhood Friends, M/M, POV Third Person Limited, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Sexism, Watching your best friend fall in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29866635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatras/pseuds/cleopatras
Summary: Niki always thought watching her best friend fall in love would be easy. Well, she mainly thought it would be easy because Dream had spent their entire childhood convincing her and everybody else they knew that he was never going to fall in love nor get married. She never knew why he was so adamant about such a thing, but she was always content to leave him be. He got quieter about his ideals the older they got, heading into his teen years with a quiet contentedness for his utter lack of a love life. As far as Niki and their other friends had known, this was how he wanted it.Niki watches her best friend fall in love before he even knows it.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Niki | Nihachu, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Sins of the Flesh [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175735
Comments: 12
Kudos: 116





	All My Life

Niki always thought watching her best friend fall in love would be easy. Well, she mainly thought it would be easy because Dream had spent their entire childhood convincing her and everybody else they knew that he was never going to fall in love nor get married. She never knew why he was so adamant about such a thing, but she was always content to leave him be. He got quieter about his ideals the older they got, heading into his teen years with a quiet contentedness for his utter lack of a love life. As far as Niki and their other friends had known, this was how he wanted it. 

Throughout their entire childhood, ever since her family moved into the estate near them all the way from Germany, Dream was her other half. From the moment when he said, “ _ Why do you sound funny?”  _ she knew this was going to be a boy she loved her whole life. Of course, when she says that, she doesn’t mean it the way everyone else means it. Never in her life did she want to marry Dream, but that was really what everyone was pushing her towards.

Still, Dream was never going to marry, and even if he was, it wouldn’t be Niki. She knows this and she’s okay with it. There are plenty of other high-born suitors that have caught her eye since her step into adulthood and eligibility for marriage. There’s Wilbur, of course, but they would never look at each other that way. If there was ever anyone who came second to Dream in terms of closeness, Wilbur would be it. They only danced together or pretended to court each other to anger their relatives. Niki’s mother wanted her to marry well and she knew this was out of love and wanting her daughter to succeed, but she wanted to marry for love and she was going to make damn sure she did. So, anytime someone pushed in the direction of whoever had the biggest wallet, she made sure to make a spectacle of her and Wilbur’s so-called relationship. 

She and Dream made sense. One person who never wanted to love and one who couldn’t wait. It wasn’t until they got older that she realized it wasn’t that Dream didn’t want to love, it wasn’t that at all. She didn’t realize it until George came to town. 

Now, Dream was obsessed, but not in the way that one would expect. 

“ _ No, he’s such a pompous ass! Oh, look at me with my rich family and pretentious accent and perfectly flowy hair!” _

_ “Dream, you know you’re rich too, right?”  _ she had countered with a laugh, carding her small fingers through his dirty blond hair. They were younger then, around sixteen maybe. 

_ “Yeah, but he’s just a douche about it.”  _

_ “Yes, with his perfect hair and what else? Dazzling smile?” _

_ “Fuck off.” _

_ “You first.”  _

It was different. Then, as they grew, it began to make sense. She noticed that along with the animosity between them, there were lingering stares, words left unsaid. Dream was by no means dumb, but his pride seemed to get in the way of what was really going on. 

She remembered the year prior when she had worked up the courage to approach a lonesome George at a ball. 

_ “You like him, don’t you?” _

_ “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” _ was George’s response, even though they both knew exactly who his eyes were scanning for on the dance floor. When all she gave him was a pointed look, he sighed,  _ “Please, you know him better than anyone. He hates my guts, always will.” _

_ “I think he doesn’t know what to do with how he feels about you so he perceives it as anger when really he is frustrated with the confusion,”  _ she mused, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she shot a sultry wave in Wilbur’s direction.  _ “I think he feels the same way, he just needs a push in the right direction.” _

George had scoffed at her, taking a sip of champagne,  _ “And if you’re wrong? What would become of me then?” _

_ “Then he would respect you for telling the truth,” _ Niki informed, knowing she was right.  _ “It’s always been important to him.”  _

_ “Why are you telling me this?” _

She shrugged, grabbing her own glass off of a passing tray.  _ “He’s the love of my life. Not like that, of course, I figured out early into our teen years that he would never love me that way nor I him. But it goes unspoken between us, I will always be his and he will always be mine. I just want him to be happy, but he’s holding himself back without even knowing it.” _

Perhaps she should have minded her own business, but she knew neither of them were going to act on their idiotic quarrels and what they really meant if not for someone to tell them to get over themselves. She knew what a dangerous game they were forced to play, one she would never know the pain of, but the least she could do was be a loving force. 

Then, because she could never know peace when her best friends were men, the  _ incident _ happened. Dream had denied George’s younger sister a dance and now she was whining to her older brother about how he had destroyed her innocence. She knew the truth, of course, she knew the truth, so while Dream and George were across the river shooting at each other, she visited the Davidson estate.

_ “Victoria, you need to tell your brother the truth, they’re going to get themselves killed,”  _ she scolded, cursing herself for her overwhelming need to protect Dream. Niki knew he could make his own decisions and choose his own battles, but he often chose all of his battles rather than picking the ones worth his time and she knew it was going to get him killed one day.  _ “If either of them survives, which they better, or else I will make sure everyone knows your little tall tale because I am not losing my best friend and you are not going to lose your brother at the expense of a lie.” _

_ “Why are you so sure of this? You gain nothing from Dream being guilty or innocent. Rest assured you can still marry him and retain your honor one day, Niki.” _

_ “Why does everyone think I wish to marry Dream? It’d be like marrying my brother, Jesus, Victoria, it’s not about that. It’s about the truth. You need to tell George what really happened so you are no longer fueling those two prideful maniacs.”  _

After the duel, she hadn’t heard much of what happened between Dream and George. She hadn’t realized he was injured until it was too late, something she would take out on Dream for lying to her and assuming she would freak out. Okay, maybe she would have freaked out, but Niki has never been good with blood. Still, it isn’t until a week after the latest ball that she finds out the truth. 

“Have I ever told you why I never wanted to marry?” Dream asks her now, the two of them sat in his bedroom (door remaining open, of course). 

She perks up at this, feeling like all her efforts are about to come to fruition, “I’ve made my own assumptions, but if you would like to prove them either right or wrong that would be lovely.” 

He sighs, running his fingers through his hair as he avoids the words bubbling up in his throat. She can tell he’s nervous, but the last thing she wants him to feel is that she already knows because this is stressful enough without him having to know it was all for nothing. “It’s George.”

Niki smiles at this, speaking to him in the softest tone she can muster, “I know. I realized it when we were teenagers, Dream. At least, I always noticed the way he looked at you. Although I’ll be honest, I’ve been unsure of the extent of your relationship since the duel. It’s not often a blooming love story is interrupted by one of the interests shooting the other.”

“Yeah, not often,” Dream laughs at this, his shoulders dropping as he visibly relaxes, “Niki, I think I love him.” 

_ Finally.  _

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a mix of a Niki character study along with just an outsider's perspective of Dream and George's relationship so here's both combined into one piece! 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/nicowritess)   
>  [tumblr](https://andrewjminyvrd.tumblr.com/)


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